seven days of craps plus

7/18/2019 Seven Days of Craps Plus

1/15

IntroductionThis brief manual is intended to aid the reader in learn-ing the game of casino craps. It begins from the verybasics, assuming that you, the reader, know nothing ofthe game. In just seven days of study and practice,you too can become a craps expert!

The ideal way to use this manual is as a study guide.At various points in the text, there are labels indicating

what to learn on each day of theSeven Days of Crapscourse. Concentrate on reading and learning the betsassigned for each day of study. Dont try to take in theentire game at one time. A casino craps game is actu-ally many overlapping games, all played simultaneous-ly. Learn each one separately, dont become over-whelmed by the apparent complexity of the game. Itsreally not as complex as it first appears.

Let the games begin!

The Game of Craps

More history than you want to know...

Dice were invented farback in antiquity. The firstdice known were madefrom the knucklebones ofsheep (which happen tobe roughly cubical).

I TOLDYOUTHATTHISWOULDBE MORETHANYOUWANTTO KNOW...

It didnt take long for our ancestors to invent gamblinggames using these primitive dice. The ancient Egyp-

tians, Greeks, and Romans gambled with dice by ante-ing up a wager and then rolling two or more dice foreach player. The highest total won the bet. This wasfun, but not exciting enough for some people.

By the sixteenth century, the English were playing adice game called Hazard, which was the ancestor ofmodern craps. It was played on a round table, withtwo dice. Different totals of the dice paid out at differ-ent odds. One player acted as banker, and playedagainst all comers until he was knocked out of thegame, then the player who had beaten him took overas banker. Sort of like King of the Hill with cash. Un-

fortunately, the payout odds for combinations at Haz-ard were not mathematically correct, so the bankerwas not getting the advantage he thought he was get-ting...

Street Craps

By the early nineteenth century, a dice game nowcalled craps was played in most American cities. USU-ALLYINDEAD-ENDALLEYWAYS... One player, the shooter,rolled the dice. All the other players either bet against

him, or backed him by covering wagers playedagainst. When the shooter failed to make his point,the dice passed to anyone else who had the nerve toplay.

Casino or "two-way" Craps

Modern craps is referred to as two-way craps be-cause of a casino innovation. Rather than letting theplayers bet for or against the shooter directly, the casi-no banks the game, covering wagers going in eitherdirection (and taking a cut of the action both ways).

Anatomy of a Craps Layout

Casino craps is played on a rectangular table, usuallybetween nine and twelve feet in length. The layoutitself is made of felt, and is surrounded by a low wall,used to contain the dice as they bounce around. Thewall is topped by a rail, which is grooved to hold casinochecks, and divided into segments, for the conven-ience of the players. The inner surface of the wall atboth ends of the table is covered with small rubberpyramids, which help to keep the dice bouncing ran-domly. The inner surface of the wall across from thebankroll is mirrored, to help the Boxperson see bothsides of the dice at one time.

The layout is divided into three printed areas, whichare detailed below.

Bases

The two ends of the table are called the bases. Theone to the Boxpersons right is 2ndbase, the one to hisleft is 3rdbase. The easiest way to identify the basesis that the number four appears on the outer edge of2ndbase. The number ten appears on the outer edgeof 3rdbase.

Seven Days Of Crap!By H. M. Dain Lybarger

(With technical assistance from Jim Benji Thielan)

v1.4


2/15

Both bases are identical to one another, and are divid-ed into areas for betting. The Pass Line runs aroundthe outside edge of the base. The Dont Pass lineruns just inside the Pass Line. Two large areas aremarked Field and Come. A smaller area on the out-side edge is marked Dont Come. Across the basedealers edge of the table are a set of numbered box-es, referred to as the Come Numbers. The uses of allthese areas will be explained below.

Prop Area

The prop area takes up

the middle of the printedlayout, between the twobases. If there is a 1stbase, this must be it but it is never referred toas such. The nameprop area derives fromthe proposition betswhich are made there.Proposition bets are avariety of one-roll bets,which do not stay on thetable more than one roll

unless they win. Themain part of the proparea are four boxesshowing pictures of dice

a pair of 1s, a pair of2s, a pair of 4s, and a pair of 5s. These are known asthe Hard Ways. Hard Ways are unique in that theyare proposition bets that do last more than one roll. Allof the proposition bets will be explained below.

Bankroll

Sitting in front of the seated Boxperson is the table

bankroll. It can come to quite a large amount of mon-ey --$50,000 to $80,000 craps bankrolls are not un-common. The checks are arranged in stacks, with thelargest value checks in the center, directly under theBoxpersons eyes at all times. The smaller valuechecks are arranged fanning out from there, with the$1 checks placed at the ends of the bankroll, next tothe base dealers. Base dealers are permitted to takestacks of $1 or $5 checks out of the bankroll on theirown all other denominations are given to them by theBoxperson, when they need them.

Equipment

In addition to the table layout, a craps game requiressome tools; a curved stick, a dice boat, two ON/OFFpucks, a selection of lammers for marking wagers ofspecific types, and, of course, dice. A stick of dice istypically five identical dice. Some casinos provide sixdice per table, instead.

Table StaffA craps table is staffed by five people, although thereare never more than four of them on duty at one time.

A Boxperson oversees the

game, seated behind thetable bankroll. Two basedealers handle the actionon 2nd and 3rd base, anda stickperson controls thepace of the game. Thestickperson also handlesthe prop area. The basedealers and the stickper-son rotate their duties; firstworking stick, then dealingone base, then the otherbase, and finally going on

break. One of the dealersis always on break whilethe other three work. TheBoxperson is a tablegames supervisor, and is

relieved by other supervisors as necessary.

Base Dealers

The duties of a base dealer are to handle the wagersmade on his or her base. The base dealer will main-tain a set of working stacks of checks, used to payout winning wagers on that base. Lost wagers will beplaced on top of the working stacks. When a working

stack gets too large, a full stack of 20 checks will bepassed back to the boxperson.

Stickperson

The duties of a stickperson are to handle wagersmade in the prop area, and to control the pace of thegame. The stickperson will have a set of workingstacks as well, generally white and red, which are thecollected losses from the prop area. The stickpersonis equipped with the stick, which is used to move dicearound the table. The stickperson is responsible for


3/15

watching the dice as they are passed to the shooterand then thrown. The stickperson calls out the num-ber rolled. The base dealers listen to the stick calls todetermine what wagers won and lost each roll.

Boxperson

The duty of the Boxperson is to supervise the dealingteam, and to handle patrons buy-ins and cash-outs.He is also responsible for officially booking all bets.

The Rhythm of a Craps GameThe sequence of actions on a craps game is complex,

but it is a strictly repeating order of events. We beginwith the pucks in the OFF position, and no wagers onthe table (just as if the table were newly opened). Thisis a come out roll, since there is no point established.Pass line and Dont Pass wagers are made. The diceare passed by the stickman to the first shooter, whoselects two of the dice for his throw. To be permittedto shoot the dice, a player must have either a PassLine or a Dont Pass wager. When the dice arethrown, the result will either be a pass line winner, apass line loser (craps), or it will establish a point. If apoint is established, the pucks will go into the ON posi-tion, behind the point number on the layout. The

shooter can continue to throw the dice until he fails tomake his point. When that happens, the dice passclockwise to the next patron who qualifies to shoot.This pattern continues until the table closes.

Day One

BetsNow we get to the meat of the course the bets.Each player at a craps game can have many differentbets working at one time. Each bet, however, livesand dies according to its own rules, and is unaffected

by any other bet on the table, whether owned by thesame player or a different one.

Base Bets

The most popular wagers on a craps table are madeon the base ends of the layout. There is space foreight players around each base, but more can crowdin if necessary.

Pass LineThe primary wager on a craps table is the Pass Line

wager. It is placed on the line on the layout markedPass Line, and directly in front of the player whomakes it. (Kind of obvious, I know...) A Pass Line wa-ger is generally made only on the come out roll. (Thatmeans that the pucks are in the OFF position, whenthere is no point established from a previous roll.) Onthe come out roll, the pass line wagers win on a 7 or11 (called natural numbers), and lose on a 2, 3, or12 (called crap numbers). Any other number rolledbecomes the point. The pucks are moved to the ONposition, marking the number on the layout that is nowthe point.

Once a point is established, pass l ine wagers win if thepoint number rolls, and lose if a 7 rolls. No othernumbers make any difference to the pass line wagers.

Terminology Note: Since many wagers lose on a rollof 7, that roll is referred to as a 7-out, and oftencauses the entire table to be cleared off.

Pass Line wagers are flat bets they get paid evenmoney when they win.

Pass Line wagers are known as contract bets be-cause once they are made, they cannot be taken back.

They will either win or lose, but they cannot comedown. They can be increased or pressed if the playerwishes.

At some casinos, a Pass Line wager can be madeeven after a point is established! This is considered tobe pressing a wager of zero. Some casinos do notallow this, and a Pass Line wager made at that time isconsidered to be a Place bet instead. This is referredto as Placing the Point. The wager is still positionedon the Pass Line, but cannot have odds placed behindit, and it is paid as a Place bet. (Dont worry about thistechnicality now. Place bets are covered on Day

Three.)

Don't PassFor patrons who wish to bet against the shooter, casi-nos offer the Dont Pass wager. Dont Pass wagersare places on the line marked Dont Pass on the lay-out. Again, they are placed exactly in front of the pa-tron who owns them. The Dont Pass wager is almostthe exact opposite of the Pass Line wager. It losesona 7 or 11 on the come out roll, and winson a 2 or3. If a 12 is rolled, the wager is a push it neitherwins nor loses. (That is why the Dont Pass line on the


4/15

layout says Dont Pass Bar 12. We bar the 12 fromwinning, in order to make the odds for the casino morefavorable.) If any other number is rolled, it becomesthe point.

After the point is established, a Dont Pass wager winsif a 7 rolls before the point number, and losesif thepoint number rolls before a 7 comes up.

Dont Pass wagers are flat bets, just like the PassLine. They are paid even money when they win.

Dont Pass bets can be taken down whenever theplayer likes. They are notcontract bets. They cannotbe pressed however. (Dont Pass bets run their big-gest risk of losing on the come out roll once they getpast that, the chances are in their favor. It would notbe good business to allow someone to make a low betwhen the risk is big, and then press it up when the riskis smaller...)

Pass Line OddsNow we have to get into some theory. Brace yourself:

There are 36 combinations of numbers that can comeup on two dice. They are:

When you add them up, you will notice that some totalvalues are more common than others. For each totalvalue, there are a different number of ways to make it

out of two dice.

Total: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12Ways: 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4 3 2 1

As you can see, 7s are the most common number,with six ways to make a 7 on two dice.Since 7s, 11s, 2s, 3s, and 12s all either makePass Line wagers win or lose, the only possible pointsare 4, 5, 6, 8, 9,and 10. You can see from thetable above that it is much easier to roll a 6 or an 8than it is to roll a 4 or a 10. Players are allowed to

take advantage of this fact by placing an odds wagerwith their Pass Line or Dont Pass wagers.

Many casinos allow 10-times-odds on craps. Thatmeans that a patrons odds wager can be up to tentimes the value of his Pass Line wager. The odds wa-ger, if it wins, is paid True Odds instead of being paideven money like the Pass Line wager. True Odds arepaid as follows:

Point: 4 5 6 8 9 10Odds: 2-1 3-2 6-5 6-5 3-2 2-1

Pass Line Odds wagers are placed directly behind thepass line, slightly separated from the matching PassLine bet. They can be placed or taken down at anytime.

Don't Pass OddsThe Pass Line and Dont Pass wagers are nearly ex-act opposites of one another. Pass Line Odds andDont Pass Odds wagers have the same relationship.

Because of the smaller working space on the DontPass line, Dont Pass Odds are placed partly on top of

their associated Dont Pass bet, and leaning off to oneside. This is referred to as heeled.

The primary way in which they are opposite is the pay-off rate. The odds are reversed. A $100 wager whenthe point is 4 will win $50. (This is not as bad as itseems, since the chances of success are better thaneven.) The table below shows the payoffs for Dont

1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6,2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, 2-6,3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6,4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6,5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, 5-5, 5-6,6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 6-5, 6-6.


5/15

Pass Odds:

Point: 4 5 6 8 9 10Odds: 1-2 2-3 5-6 5-6 2-3 1-2

Day Two

Come BetsSome people want to have more than one Pass Linewager, in order to have more than one number thatcan win for them. They want to play the Pass Linegame again and they want to play it right now. TheCome bet was created for this purpose. Wheneveryou make a Come bet, the very next roll is the come-out roll for that bet.

Every Come bet is a separate game, unconnected toany other Come bet. Come bet games are just over-lapping Pass Line games, all played on the same ta-ble, and using the same series of dice rolls. Theydont interact with each other, or with the real PassLine game.

Come bets are placed in the large space on the layout

marked Come, as close to directly in front of the own-ing player as possible.

Since the next roll after a Come bet is made is its per-sonal come out roll, a Come bet wins on a 7 or 11,and loses on a 2, 3, or 12, just like a Pass Line bet.

Any other number becomes the point for that Comebet. How, you may ask, do we keep track of the pointfor each separate Come bet, when the pucks are al-ready in use marking the real point for the Pass Linewagers? This is where the Come Numbers get used.When a point number is rolled for a Come bet, the betis moved from the Come area into the matching Come

Number box on the layout. The base dealers keeptrack of who owns established come bets by whereinside the box they place the wagers.

Come bets which have a point established win andlose just like the Pass Line they win if their numbershows up before a 7 is rolled, and lose if a 7 is rolledbefore their number. They get paid even money whenthey win, just like Pass Line wagers.

Come bets have all the other characteristics of PassLine wagers as well; they are contract bets, and can

be pressed.

Don't ComeAs you have probably guessed, the Dont Come wager hasthe same relationship to the Come wager as the Dont Passhas to the Pass Line they are almost exactly opposites.

When a Dont Come wager is placed, it goes in theDont Come space on the table layout. The very nextroll is the come out roll for that wager. Therefore, itloses on a 7 or 11, and wins on a 2 or 3. A 12 isa push just like for Dont Pass wagers. And just like allthe other wagers we have discussed so far, any other

number becomes the point for that bet.

Dont Come bets which have a point established aremoved by the dealer to the small boxes behind theCome Numbers on the layout. Thats how the basedealers keep track of what the point is for each wager.

Once a point is established, a Dont Come bet wins if a7 comes up before its number, and loses if its num-ber comes up before a 7 just like a Dont Pass.

Dont Come bets have all the other characteristics ofDont Pass bets. They are not contract bets, and can

be taken down, but they cannot be pressed up.

Come Bet OddsSince Come bets are the same as Pass Line bets, justnot synchronized with the official Pass Line come outrolls, players can take odds on their Come bets, justlike they do on their Pass Line bets. The payouts areexactly the same.

Point: 4 5 6 8 9 10Odds: 2-1 3-2 6-5 6-5 3-2 2-1

Come Bet Odds wagers are placed in the Come Num-ber boxes, on top of the matching Come Bets, andcanted off slightly to one side. Stacking them crookedlike that makes it clear which part of the stack is theflat bet and which part is the odds. Come Bet Oddscan be placed or taken down at any time.

Come Bets and Come Bet Odds which win are movedinto the Come are on the layout before being paid.This gives the base dealer more space to work in.

Come Bet Odds are off on the Come Out roll unlesscalled on by the player.


6/15

Don't Come Odds

As you can probably guess by now, Dont Come Oddsare the same as Dont Pass Odds. They can be in-creased or decreased, or even taken down, at anytime.

Just like Dont Pass Odds, the payout odds are re-versed. The table below shows the payoffs for DontCome Odds: ITSTHESAMETABLE. GOBACKANDCHECKIFYOUDONTBELIEVEME...

Point: 4 5 6 8 9 10Odds: 1-2 2-3 5-6 5-6 2-3 1-2

Winning Dont Come bets and Dont Come Odds wa-gers are also moved into the Come area before beingpaid, to give the dealer extra room to work.

Day Three

Place BetsWhen making a Come bet, the dice decide what num-ber the wager is made on, and therefore the payoffodds. Suppose a player wants to pick a number (and

a set of odds), without letting the dice decide. In thatcase, he can make a Place bet.

Place bets are positioned on the layout on the doublelines in front of and behind the Come Numbers. Thedealers position the wager to show who owns it. Betsfrom people standing along the long side of the baseare placed on the front double lines, bets from peoplestanding along the short side of the base are placedon the back double lines.

Note: If a player wishes to make a Place bet on thecurrent point number, he can put it down bisecting the

Pass Line on the layout in front of him. This counts asa Place bet just the same as if he had given the moneyto the base dealer and had the base dealer positionthe wager.

A Place bet wins if its number rolls before the 7 rolls,and loses if a 7 rolls before its number. No otherrolls affect the wager.

Place bets are paid House Odds, not True Odds.House Odds are slightly reduced values, as shownbelow:

Point: 4 5 6 8 9 10Odds: 9-5 7-5 7-6 7-6 7-5 9-5

Place bets are the only bets that get paid House Odds.Note that Place bets are unusual, since they are oddsbets without a matching flat bet. You cant take oddson a Place bet the Place bet is already an odds beton its own.

(Note that the 6 and 8 have odds divisible by 6. Allplace bets on the 6 and the 8 must be in units divisi-ble by 6. ORTHEDEALERSGETCRANKY... Other place betscan be in units divisible by 5.)

Place bets are off on the Come Out Roll, unless calledon by the player.

Day Four

Buy BetsWhat if you dont want to get the reduced House Odds,

but still want to pick your number? The Buy bet wasinvented for that purpose. Like a Place bet, it is anodds bet without a matching flat bet but it gets paidTrue Odds.

A player makes a Buy bet by telling the base dealerwhat number he wants to buy, and giving him the mon-ey. The bet is placed in the appropriate number boxon the layout, positioned to show which player madethe bet. To distinguish a Buy bet from a Come bet, asmall lammer labeled BUY is placed on the wager.Once placed, a Buy bet can be taken down at any


7/15

time. It wins if its number comes up before a 7, andloses if a 7 comes up first. Its just like Come BetOdds, without the messy flat-paying Come Bet under-neath. So much like it, in fact, that theyre also off onthe Come Out Roll unless called on.

Winning Buy bets are paid True Odds for the numberthey are placed on. They are moved down into theCome area before being paid.

In fact, it is so much like Come Bet Odds, only withmore freedom of choice, that you might ask why any-one would bother with Come Bets at all. Well, theresa price for all that freedom; 5% of the amount of thebet. This is called a vig (short for the Yiddish wordvigorish). ANDYOUTHOUGHTYOUWOULDBESAFEFROMTRIVIABYNOW... The vig is paid when the bet is made, and goesinto the table bankroll, (or the dealers working stacks).For example, a $100 buy bet cost the player an extra$5 when it is placed. The vig is charged regardless ofwhether the bet wins or loses but if the Buy bet istaken down voluntarily, the vig is returned to the playerwith his bet.

Lay BetsLay bets are Dont Come Odds without the Dont

Come bet. Or, in other words, they are the opposite ofBuy bets. When placed, they go in the Dont Comeboxes behind the numbers on the layout, and aremarked with a LAY lammer, so they dont get confusedwith Dont Come bets.

Lay bets win if a 7 comes up before their number, andlose if their number comes up first. Winning Lay betsget paid Reverse True Odds, just like Dont ComeOdds and Dont Pass Odds.

Point: 4 5 6 8 9 10Odds: 1-2 2-3 5-6 5-6 2-3 1-2

OK, now for the tricky part. The vig is reversed too the vig is not 5% of the wager, its 5% of the amountthe wager could win. The vig is still paid when the betis made, only the calculation differs. The vig still goesinto the table bankroll. If the point were 4, for exam-ple, a $200 could win $100. The vig would be $5, sothe base dealer would need to be given $205 to set upthe bet.

If a lay bet is taken down by its owner, his vig is re-turned.

Day Five

Okay, today you get a break, only a couple of new bets to learn, and they

are easy,

since they are such a bad idea for the player.

USETHERESTOFTODAYTOREVIEWTHEOTHERWAGERSYOUHAVELEARNEDSOFAR!

Field BetsA Field Bet is a wager placed in the Field space onthe table layout. It wins if any of the numbers shown inthe space are rolled on the next roll, and loses is any-thing else is thrown. It is a one-roll bet.

A Field Bet is paid even money in most cases. How-ever, if a 2 or 12 is rolled, it is paid double. (Mostcasinos only pay double on 12s, but a few pay tripleon the 12.)

The field bet is a scam, pure and simple. The num-bers printed in the Field space on the table layout are2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12. The stickmans callfor a roll of 9 is Centerfield nine, implying that thevalue 9 is the center of something but the value of7 is the center of the two-dice sequence. For the fieldnumbers to be symmetrical, the 5 should be countedas a winner, and only 6s, 7s, and 8s should be los-ers. By making the 5 a losing number as well, thecasino makes the Field bet veryunfavorable to theplayer. By calling out Centerfield nine, we disguisethe mathematical truth.

Big 6 and Big 8The spaces in the corner of the table layout markedBig 6 and Big 8 are simple wagers, which are paideven money if they win. They win if a 6 (or 8) isrolled before a 7, and lose if a 7 is rolled before theirnumber. Does this sound familiar? It should its thesame win and lose criteria as a Place Bet only it

pays even worse than House Odds, since it only payseven money.

The Big 6 and Big 8 are for people who want to betPlace bets on the 6and 8, but cant manage to maketheir bets divisible by 6.ANYBODYWHOCANTDIVIDEEVENLYBY6 WONTNOTICETHATTHEYARENTGETTINGPAID7-6 ODDSEITHER...


8/15

Day Six

Prop Bets

Most prop bets are one roll bets. Generally, playerswill throw in $1 or $5 checks for their prop action thepayouts are extremely high, but the odds of successare extremely low. The stickperson is responsible forkeeping track of the prop area, and collects losing propwagers each roll. When a prop bet wins, the payoutsare generally high enough that the stickpersons work-ing stacks wont cover it, since they are just white andred. The stickperson uses his stick to tap in front ofwinning players, and tells the appropriate base dealerhow much to pay that person.

Prop bets are extremely unfavorable to the player sothe stickperson is also responsible for selling the proparea. The stickperson is supposed to talk up the propbets, and make a big show of paying the winners, toconvince players to bet them. Another trick used tosell the prop area is leaving you up to win. Winningprop bets are paid off, but the wager is left on the lay-out for the next roll, unless the player calls it down.That usually results in the casino getting the bet in theend...

Hard Ways

The four Hard Way wagers are unique in the prop area they are the only prop bets which are notone-rollbets. Rolling a number the hard way means rolling itwith like dice in other words, a pair. Any roll of non-matching dice is a soft way or easy way. There arefour Hard Ways, Hard 4 ( a pair of 2s), Hard 6 (a pairof 3s), Hard 8 (a pair of 4s), and Hard 10 (a pair of5s). Hard Way wagers win if their combination ap-pears on the dice, and lose if a 7 rolls, or if a soft wayrolls for their number. No other number matters toHard Ways. Customarily, Hard Way wagers are off on

the Come Out Roll unless called on by the owner.

Hard 6 and Hard 8 pay 9-1 when they win. Hard 4 andHard 10 pay 7-1 when they win.

Note: It would seem like the 4 and 10 should paymore, since they are harder to roll on 2 dice than the6 and the 8. The odds are the way they are becauseits harder to roll soft 4s and soft 10s than it is toroll soft 6s and soft 8s. They lose fewer ways, sothey pay less.

Another note: Hard 2 and Hard 12 are craps numbers,and are not included in the Hard Ways, since there isno soft way to make either number.

Day Seven

Any SevensThis is a one-roll bet on any combination on the dicetotaling 7. It pays 4-1

Any Craps

This is a one-roll bet on any crap number ( 2, 3, or

12) coming up on the next roll. It pays 7-1.

Craps NumbersIt is also possible to bet on the Craps numbers individ-ually, as one-roll wagers.

A wager on the 2 or on the 12 pays 30-1 if it wins.A wager on the 3 pays 15-1 if it wins.

ElevenA wager on the 11 pays 15-1 if it wins, and it is madein a similar way to wagers on the Craps numbers. Be-

cause the number 11 spoken out loud sounds verysimilar to the number 7, craps players and dealersrefer to the 11 as Yo or Yo-eleven.

Horn BetsThe Horn space on the prop area is used for severaldifferent wagers. On its own, it is a wager dividedequally among the 2, 3, 11, and 12. Horn betsmust be divisible by 4. The payout for the Horn bet iscalculated as the appropriate win for the numberrolled, minus all the losing parts of the wager. For ex-ample, if an 11 rolls, the $1 wagered on it earns $15

more, but the $1 parts of the wager on the other threenumbers all lose, so the total paid is $12. If the 2 hadrolled, that dollar would have won 30 more, minus thelosing parts of the wager on the other three numbers.The amount paid would be $27.

Horn High BetsBut what if I want to throw in a $5 check for a HornBet, and I dont want to mess around with gettingchange? I can tell the stickperson to put the extra dol-lar on one of the Horn numbers. For example, a $5Horn High 2 means $1 on the 3, $1 on the 11, $1


9/15

on the 12, and $2on the 2. A $10 Horn High Yomeans $2 on the 2, $2 on the 3, $2 on the 12, and$4 on the 11.

World BetIf I throw in $5 for a Horn bet, but I dont want to stackup the odd dollar on one of the numbers, I can also putit on the Any Seven wager. This is convenient, since itacts as a kind of insurance. If the Horn bet loses be-cause of a 7 rolling, I am out $4. But my $1 Sevenswager wins 4-1, so I am even.

C and E BetsThe C-and-E spaces around the edges of the proparea are for a popular set of bets, the Any Craps betand the Eleven bet. If there are a lot of players mak-ing each, the spots around the edge of the prop areaare oriented to point toward each player, so the stick-person can use them to organize the bets.

It is also possible to make a combination bet, splitting,for example, a $5 wager between the Any Craps andthe Eleven. This makes it a $2.50 wager on each. Ifan 11 rolls, the payout would be $2.50 times 15, mi-nus the $2.50 part of the wager that was on the losing

Any Craps wager, a total of $35.DOYOUROWNMATH!

If acraps number rolls, the payout would be $2.50 times 7,minus the $2.50 on the losing Yo wager. That makes$15.

There is a shortcut for this calculation: If an 11 rolls,the payout is 7 times the total wager, and if a crapsnumber rolls, the payout is 3 times the total wager.Thats the way the base dealers figure this stuff out,instead of doing it the long way, as above.

Hop BetsHop bets are one-roll bets on a single specific combi-

nation of the dice. These are also called Turn bets.They are generally called out by players with the lowernumber die stated first 2-3 hopping or 4-6 hop-ping for example. They pay 15-1 if the next roll of thedice is exactly as stated, and lose in every other case.

Hopping Hard WaysThese are hop bets on two identical dice. They pay 30-1.

ConclusionCongratulations, you have now completed the Seven

Days of Crap course. Now, when someone tells youYou dont know crap! you can look them straight inthe eye and say Yes I do! with pride.

Seriously, though, you now have a working knowledgeof casino craps. From here, you can expand yourknowledge in many ways. Practice watching thegame, figuring out what rolled by what the base deal-ers do, and who owns which bets by where they arepositioned. Watch payouts, and see if you can keepup with the base dealers figuring out how much to pay

winning wagers of various kinds. There are other PropBets to learn, which are rare and peculiar, but whichyou will occasionally encounter. When you are com-fortable with all of that, you can begin to study themethods of cheating at a craps game, and the variousscams used by dealers and players to manipulate theodds in their favor.

Be Seeing You!


10/15

Eighth Day Of Crap!By H. M. Dain Lybarger

Introduction

This brief REALLY, THISONEWILLBE...manual is in-

tended to aid the reader in learning the gameof Crapless Craps. It is assumed that youhave made your way through Seven Days ofCrap! before beginning with this manual.Technically, the copyrighted version of thisunusual game is known as Craps No More but we all just call it Crapless. THATSTHEPOLITESTTHINGWECALLIT.

Craps No More was invented in the Seven-ties, and first appeared in Las Vegas at the

Stratosphere casino. Nothing more is knownof the games history or invention. ANDWEWOULDLIKETOKEEPITTHATWAY.

The Game of Crapless Craps

The idea behind Crapless Craps is that thecraps numbers, 2, 3, and 12, become points,just like any other point. To make the layoutsymmetrical, the 11 is no longer a Come Outroll winner its just another point as well.Actually, that does more than make the lay-out symmetrical. By taking away winning 11son the Come Out roll, we take away a signifi-cant chance for the players to win. Instead ofa guaranteed win, the 11 becomes a veryhard point to hit its a loss two-thirds of thetime. This more than balances out any ad-vantages the player gets from the craplessnature of the game.

Since everything but a 7 is a point on the

Come Out roll, and 7 is a winner, there is noway to lose on the Come Out roll. This is a

Deep Crap!By H. M. Dain Lybarger

v1.4


11/15

big selling point for players, and makes thegame popular.

Base Bets

The bets on Crapless Craps are similar (insome cases identical to) the bets on regularCraps. Crapless is actually simpler to dealthan the regular game, because there arefewer allowable bets.

Pass Line

On the Come Out roll, a 7 is a Pass Line win,and any other numberbecomes the point.Once the point is established, the rules arethe same as regular Craps. If a 7 rolls beforethe point, the Pass Line wagers lose. If thepoint rolls before a 7-out, the Pass Line wa-gers win. Pass Line wagers can have oddsattached to them, as in regular Craps. The10x odds limit applies as well. If the pointwins, the odds wagers are paid True Odds.The True Odds including new point numbers

are as follows:

Point: 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12Odds:6-1 3-1 2-1 3-2 6-5 6-5 3-2 2-1 3-1 6-1

Come Bets

Come bets work the same way on Craplessas they work on regular Craps. WinningCome bets are paid True Odds, using the ex-

panded True Odds listed above.

Place Bets

Place bets are allowed on Crapless Craps. Itis possible to place the extended point num-bers as well as all the usual numbers.

A Place bet wins if its number rolls before the7 rolls, and loses if a 7 rolls before its num-ber. No other rolls affect the wager.

Place bets are paid House Odds, not TrueOdds. House Odds are slightly reduced val-ues, as shown below:

Point: 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12Odds: 11-2 11-4 9-5 7-5 7-6 7-6 7-5 9-5 11-4 11-2

Like in regular Craps, Place bets on the 6 & 8must be divisible by 6. Place bets on the 2 &12 must be divisible by 6 as well. (6 is thelowest even number higher than 5, and $5 isthe table minimum.) Likewise, Place bets onthe 3 and 11 must be divisible by 8(Technically, they could be divisible by 4, butthats below the table minimum.) THISISHONESTLYTHEHARDESTPARTOFCRAPLESSCRAPSTOUNDERSTAND. EVERY-THINGELSEISEASY.

As with regular Craps, Place bets are oftenmade in groups: The Inside numbers are 5,6, 8, and 9, the Outside numbers are 4,5, 9,and 10. On Crapless, we also have the

Extreme Outside numbers, which are the 2,3, 11, and 12.

Buy Bets

Buy bets work exactly as in regular Craps.The 2, 3, 11, and 12 can be bought in thesame manner as any other Buy bet. A 5%vigorish is charged according to the standardprocedures. Buy bets are paid True Odds,using the extended True Odds table above.

Dont Pass & Dont Come

Dont exist. WHICHMAKESLIFEALITTLEEASIER, DOESNTIT?.The reason that they dont exist is that sincethere are no craps numbers, there is no wayto bar the 12, and make it a push. Whichmeans that there is no way to take away thehouse advantage when turning house-biased


12/15

Pass Line and Come bets around and allow-ing the players to make them.

Lay Bets

Lay bets are allowed on Crapless Craps, andthey are the opposite of Buy bets, just like onregular Craps. They are the only dont sidebet which exist in Crapless Craps. The rea-son that they are allowed when the others arenot is that the house cut of a Buy bet is made

via the vig, and not via a flat bet underneaththe odds bet.

Lay bets win if a 7 comes up before theirnumber, and lose if their number comes upfirst. Winning Lay bets get paid ReverseTrue Odds, using an extended table:

Point: 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12Odds:1-6 1-3 1-2 2-3 5-6 5-6 2-3 1-2 1-3 1-6

Just like on Craps, the odds are reversed,and the vig is reversed too the vig is not 5%of the wager, its 5% of the amount the wagercould win. The vig is still paid when the bet ismade, only the calculation differs. As always,if a lay bet is taken down by its owner, his vigis returned.

Field Bets

Field bets are allowed on Crapless Craps,and work just like they do on regular Craps.

Big 6 & Big 8

The Big 6 & Big 8 bets are allowed on Crap-less Craps, and work just like they do on reg-ular Craps. They remain a really bad idea.

Prop Bets

Although the 2, 3, 11, and 12 are now points,they can also be wagered on in the prop ar-ea, in all the ways that they could be wageredon in regular Craps. Even the Any Crapswager remains, since the 2, 3, and 12 are stillcalledthe crap numbers.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have now completed

the Eighth Day of Crap course. This means,of course, that you now know even more crapthan you knew before!


13/15

Ninth Day Of Crap!Ninth Day Of Crap!By H. M. Dain Lybarger

Introduction

This brief document is intended to introducethe reader to a brand new Craps wager, theFire Bet. WHATWILLTHEYTHINKOFNEXT?

The Fire Bet

The Fire Bet is a side wager that can bemade by any player on specially markedCraps tables. There is a flame-shaped mark-er outside the perimeter of the Pass Linewhere wagers can be placed. There is amatching flame-shaped marker in front of theBoxperson for each player on the table.

A Fire Bet can only be made on a new shoot-ers initial Come Out roll. A player who wants

to make a Fire Bet places his money on theflame-shaped marker at his spot. The(current) table minimum and maximum wa-gers for the Fire Bet are $1 and $5. Before apoint is established, the base dealer willmove the wager onto the flame-shaped mark-er corresponding to that player in the PropArea. Once the shooters initial point is es-tablished, a Fire Bet cannot be called off, tak-en down, increased, reduced, or altered.

A Fire Bet is a wager on how many differentpoints an individual shooter can make beforeSevening Out. The possible points are 4, 5,6, 8, 9, and 10. As each point is made by theshooter, a specially marked puck is placed onthe number on the table. If an already-marked point is made again by the shooter, itdoes not affect the Fire Bet.

The Fire Bet is paid based on the total num-ber of different points hit by the shooter dur-ing his turn with the dice. The payouts are asfollows:

4 Different Points made pays 40 for 15 Different Points made pays 200 for 16 Different Points made pays 500 for 1

Surveillance will be called by the Pit staffwhenever the 4thFire Bet marker is placed on

a table. If the 5th

and / or 6th

point is hit, Sur-veillance will conduct a review to make cer-tain that everything was done correctly beforethe wagers are paid.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have now completedthe Ninth Day of Crap course. This means,of course, that you are now completely full ofcrap!


14/15

Tenth Day Of Crap!Tenth Day Of Crap!By H. M. Dain Lybarger

Introduction

Just when you thought that the game ofCraps couldnt get any stranger In thisdocument, you will learn about an obscureCraps wager called the Put Bet.

The Put Bet

There are actually two kinds of Put Bet. Thefirst type is a surrogate Pass Line wager: Theflat wager (and its associated odds) are per-mitted to be placed on the layout just like aPass Line after the point has been estab-lished. This is the equivalent of pressing awager of zero on the Pass Line.

The second type of Put Bet is identical to aCome Bet with Odds in terms of how it wins

and loses, and how much it pays. It has ex-actly the same table limits and maximumodds limits. Its component parts are on andoff in exactly the same fashion (i.e. the Oddsportion of the wager is off on the Come OutRoll). The only difference is in how the wageris made: A Come Bet is placed in the Comearea, and when the dice are next rolled, thedice determine which of the Come Numbersbecomes the point for that wager. Once itspoint has been established, Odds can be

placed on the wager. By contrast, Put Betsare assembled as a flat bet with Odds fromthe very beginning, and are passed to theBase Dealer who puts them on a Come Num-ber selected by the player. Thats it.

Since Put Bets dont have a Come Out Roll,they dont gain the advantage of the possibil-ity of their flat wager portion winning at thattime. On the other hand, on Craps games

where 10x Odd or greater are allowed, theratio of odds-to-flat wager is high enough tooffset the removal of the initial potential win.This makes the wager more attractive than astandard Come Bet. Since the player canchoose the number he is betting on, he canchoose the payout odds with which he ismost comfortable an added attraction.

In fact, on a Craps table with 10x or greaterOdds where Put Bets are allowed, there is

no reason to make a standard Come Bet atall. This is bad from the casinos point ofview, because the hold on Put Bets is no-ticeably less than the hold on Come Bets.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have now completedthe Tenth Day of Crap course. This means,of course, that you realize that from the casi-nos point of view, Put Bets are the worstsortof crap!


15/15

Eleventh Day Of Crap!Eleventh Day Of Crap!By H. M. Dain Lybarger

Introduction

This verybrief document is intended to intro-duce the reader to a new kind of Crapsgame, Lonestar Craps (property of OlympiaDice), and a pair of brand new Craps wagers,the Low Dice Bet and the High Dice Bet. WHENI ASKEDWHATWILLTHEYTHINKOFNEXT?, I DIDNTEXPECTTHIS...

The Low Dice and High Dice Bets

A regular Craps table has spaces in the hookmarked Big 6 and Big 8. A Lonestar Crapstable removes those, replacing them with theLow and High spaces. The two wagers workthe same way, differing only in the numberswhich pay out.

A check placed on the Low space is a wagerthat a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 will come up on the nextroll of the dice. The payout is 1-1 for a 3, 4,5, or 6, and 5-1 if a 2 rolls.

A check placed on the High space is a wagerthat a 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 will come up on thenext roll of the dice. The payout is 1-1 for an8, 9, 10, or 11, and 5-1 if a 12 rolls.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have now completedthe Eleventh Day of Crap course.ANDITCERTAINLYISABUNCHOFCRAP!

seven days of craps plus

Documents